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Post-Race
Interviews with the Finalists (And
two fast spectators) Due to technical difficulties with one of our tape recorders, we are unable to report this information in our usual Q & A format. Instead, we are summarizing what we remember of our post-race discussions with the Finalists. Chris Solinsky | Zoe Nelson | Katy Trotter | Laura Cummings | Garrett Heath | Heidi Magill | Katelyn Kaltenbach | Ben True | Stephen Pifer | Megan Kaltenbach | Christian Wagner | Galen Rupp | Amanda Trotter | Dathan Ritzenhein | Other Notes
Chris Solinsky had originally planed to split 4:35 and 9:20, but once he saw the Balboa Park course for the first time on Friday, he decided to discard his plan. Instead, he took it easy on the first loop -- he said that he felt like he was jogging. He went through the mile in 4:43 and two miles in 9:20. He said that by the two-mile mark he had no one in his peripheral vision. His 14:40 is one of the fastest times ever run at Foot Locker Nationals and he tied Dathan Ritzenhein's record for margin of victory, with second place finisher Wes Smith 20 seconds back. Solinsky ran 70-90 miles per week for much of the season before dropping down to 50-60 for the last few weeks of the season and running 30 miles the week before Nationals. He has already signed with Wisconsin and hopes that the team (which finished second to Stanford in 2002) will be able to compete for a National title within a year or two.
This Kalispell (MT) sophomore Zoe Nelson never imagined, after finishing 20th at this meet a year ago, that she would become a National Champion just one year later. She thought that maybe she could win the race by her senior year, but she didn't expect to win so soon. She was surprised that no one mounted more of a challenge during the race. Once she took over the lead, she was worried that someone might catch up, so she just tried to keep running strong. She passed the one-mile mark in 5:22 and the two-mile mark in 11:18. Nelson had been plagued by a side stitch all week long, at the West Regional race and at various points throughout the season. She felt it during her warm-up but was pleased that it didn't bother her at all during the race. She doesn't know what causes it but when it comes on, she tries to take deep breaths to relieve it. Though she seemed calm and happy on Friday night at dinner -- she was joking around and having fun with her West teammates -- Nelson said that she got very nervous before the race. She didn't have too much trouble falling asleep the night before the race, but she woke up at 5:30 a.m., anticipating the race. Nelson definitely considers herself to be more of a cross country runner, but hopes to improve on her track bests of 2:22 (800), 5:03 (1,600) and 10:47 (3,200). She didn't know about the USATF Winter Cross Country Nationals but said she might look in to racing there once she was provided with an explanation of the event. Nelson got in to running in seventh grade and she enjoyed winning, so that motivated her to keep at it. Though she has grown about one inch since last year (she's 5' 0") Nelson says that she likes being short. After the race she ate her first cheeseburger in months. She tries to stay away from junk food during the season. She said that she eats a lot, but she tries to choose from healthy foods.
Katy Trotter beat her third-place Northeast Regional finish by finishing second here. Her plan was to run near the front of the pack and then gradually pick people off throughout the race; she said that it worked perfectly. She felt that the course was challenging but a little easier than the Holmdel Park course that she runs back home in New Jersey. Trotter didn't expect to finish so high here and wouldn't have even run cross country this season if it weren't for her twin sister, Amanda, who is her role model. Amanda and Katy were soccer players until this season. Last year, they both competed in the Junior race at the Northeast Regional after playing soccer all season. Katy dropped out of the race after running with Amanda in the early going, Amanda went on to win the race by 50 seconds in 19:01. Both Trotters will attend Stanford University next fall. Katy was the only senior to finish in the top seven.
Laura Cummings was another runner who beat her Regional finish; she finished seventh in the Northeast and fourth here. She was pleased with her finish and placed higher than she expected to. She found herself running in second place at one point during the race and worried that she had gone out too fast, but she just tried to keep thinking positive thoughts. She said that the course was nothing compared to the Sunken Meadow course that she runs on Long Island. Cummings is only a sophomore and hopes to qualify for Foot Locker two more years. This was the first time she had beaten New York rival Nicole Blood (other than when Blood went the wrong way while leading the State Meet and dropped out of the race).
Winona (MN) junior Garrett Heath surprised more than a few people by finishing sixth. Though he will carry "top returnee" status into next year's meet, Heath had three other juniors -- Mohamed Trafeh, Ahmed Haji and Ben True -- within two seconds of him. Heath ran very low mileage over the summer, but he spent a lot of time biking. He raised his mileage a bit during the season but still runs less than many of his competitors. In the winter, like many other Minnesota high school runners, he trades in his running shoes for a pair of skis.
Heidi Magill, a junior at Mountain View High School in Orem, UT was not surprised, but pleased with her sixth-place finish. Her race plan was to start and finish strong and make the other girls chase her. With her long stride (she's about 5' 11" tall), Magill strode out to the lead in the first straightaway and did just that. Magill finished second to Amber Harper at the Utah 4A State Meet in October. She had to peak twice this season because Mountain View's cross-town rivals, Orem, give them so much competition that they need to be at their best for the State Meet. This year Mountain View lost to Orem by three points. During the cross country season, Magill trains with sophomore teammate Heidi Houle (fourth at the State Meet) and she admits that it gets a little competitive from time to time. Despite her strong cross country skills, Magill is mainly considered an 800m runner. She has run 2:06.34 and hopes to run 2:06 at altitude and 2:02 at sea level this year. She has only run the mile once -- in 4:57 -- but she thinks she could go faster. Katelyn
Kaltenbach - 7th, 17:50.9
Katelyn Kaltenbach said that she is usually very strong in the last part of a race and she used her strong kick to move up and grab the seventh spot. She attended last year's race as a spectator and said that her sister Megan's experience here was invaluable, that she never would have done so well without her older sister to show her the ropes. Kaltenbach is also a serious soccer player. Though she trains with her sister much of the time, during the fall she has soccer practice three days a week after school. On those days she runs with one of her coaches. She plays club soccer in the fall and school soccer in the spring; she is the captain of her team. She plans to continue doing both sports as long as she can.
Ben True was pleased with his ninth-place finish. He was chasing New England rival Ahmed Haji during the race but came up just short (Haji finished eighth, .8 seconds ahead of True). True was also targeting fellow Mainer Matt Lane's time on this course -- a 15:26 which earned him fourth place in 1995. True beat Lane's time, but not his place. Louis Luchini, another recent high school standout from Maine, qualified for this meet but never ran on the San Diego course. True only runs about 35-40 mile per week because he wants to leave room for improvement in the future. He missed a lot of training over the summer when he broke his collarbone nordic skiing in Austria. He is a serious Nordic skiier -- he finished 7th in the Classic race at the 2002 Junior Nationals -- and hopes to find a college where he will be able to participate in both sports. He finds that skiing improves his running and vice versa; the only downfall is that skiing favors a stronger build than does running. True will be one of the top returning runners in the country next year.
Craig Virgin has said that Stephen Pifer is the best runner to come out of Illinois since him. Pifer is flattered by this, but he things that Don Sage would beg to differ. Virgin is a family friend of the Pifers and Stephen has been over to his house and gotten advice from the three-time Olympian and two-time World Cross Country Champion. Pifer spent the summer training in Boulder, CO with some friends; his uncle/coach served as chaperone. He was impressed by the healthy lifestyle there and has decided to attend the University of Colorado next year. Pifer tried to run with his Midwest teammates as much as possible during the race. He said that he tried to go after some of his teammates and made a move a little too early, which probably cost him a little ground in the end. Megan
Kaltenbach - 20th, 18:24.9
Megan Kaltenbach wasn't pleased with her race, but she was very happy for her younger sister Katelyn, who finished seventh. She said that she didn't feel right during the race and she had a hard time staying motivated once she realized that she wasn't in contention for the win. Though she stayed with the leaders through the mile, she couldn't hang with them when they made a move. Kaltenbach is already looking forward to the track season, she wants to go after the high school record in the outdoor mile (4:35.24 set by Polly Plumer in 1982). She said that she'd like to do the way Alan Webb did it -- in an open race -- if such a thing could be arranged. She had signed with the University of North Carolina. She is excited to go there -- she was decked out in UNC gear on Friday and wore a Tar Heel tattoo on her cheek on Saturday. She's particularly looking forward to running on UNC's relay teams at Penn Relays. Christian
Wagner - 27th, 15:47.2
Christian Wagner fell down about 600 meters into the race and found himself in last place. He commented how narrow the course was in many places. He consoled himself with the fact that he is a junior and will have another shot at qualifying and running well next year. Wagner said that everything has been icing on the cake this season since his Columbus North High School team won the Indiana State Cross Country Meet for the first time ever this season. A girl from his team, Julie Eckerly, finished 11th at the Midwest Regional and narrowly missed qualifying. She'll have another shot at it next year as she's just a junior. Wagner is interested in studying engineering in college; he would like to find a college that has strong running and engineering.
Galen Rupp said that he didn't feel right from the start of the race. He collapsed with 300 meters to go, while running in 9th place, and did not finish. His coach, Alberto Salazar, later showed him the spot where he had fallen; Rupp hadn't realized that he was so close to the finish line. Salazar told him that sometimes these things just happen. Salazar would know, he has run himself into the ground more than once. Alberto Salazar coaches some other Oregon high school runners, but Rupp has the luck of being coached by Salazar full time -- Salazar's the cross country coach at his school (Central Catholic in Portland, OR). Rupp used to play soccer but Salazar recruited him away from soccer and into running. Rupp once dreamed of playing in the World Cup, but now he's glad that he decided to become a distance runner. He credits Salazar with much of his success. Though he's met some of the other athletes that Salazar coaches as part of the Nike Oregon Project, Rupp hasn't visited the altitude house where the athletes live. He said that Salazar isn't quite as experimental with his high school athletes as he is with the elite athletes he coaches. Rupp said that Salazar emphasizes good form. When Salazar was running, he was told that form was just something one was born with, but now he firmly believes that good form is important and can be learned. Rupp spends a lot of time doing sprint drills to improve his form. Rupp visited the Nike grounds when he competed in the Nike Border Clash (a race between athletes from Oregon and Washington) and was impressed with what he saw. He'd like to work for Nike someday. Amanda
Trotter - 11th at the Northeast Regional
Amanda Trotter was on hand to cheer on her twin sister Katy, who finished second. She narrowly missed qualifying at the Northeast Regional where she finished 11th. She said that she just didn't have it mentally during that race. She was in position to qualify at one point but when Katy made a move, Amanda let her go. Once she was in San Diego and saw what the Foot Locker experience was like, she wished she had pushed a little harder during the Regional. Amanda and Katy are distinguishable by the mole on Amanda's face and they said that their friends can tell them apart by the way they dress. However, Amanda said that she does respond to "Katy" in the hallways at school. Amanda said that she and Katy used to go and watch Cate and Maggie Guiney (twins who lived nearby and now star for Boston College) run and were inspired by them. Amanda never imagined that being her and Katy someday. Both Amanda and Katy will attend Stanford University next fall. Amanda said that she probably wouldn't have chosen to go so far away from home without Katy, but bringing a family member along will be comforting. Amanda and Katy will run indoor track. Amanda's interested to see how her track season goes now that she has a season of cross country under her belt. Both of them will try to qualify for the Millrose High School Mile. Dathan
Ritzenhein - 1999 and 2002 Foot Locker Champion
Dathan Ritzenhein just happened to be down at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista for some testing so he decided to stop by and watch the meet. He said that Foot Locker is a great place to end one's high school career and he looks back on his experience there fondly. Ritzenhein, a sophomore at the University of Colorado, missed this cross country season with a stress fracture in his right femur. He said that the fracture took a long time to heal and he spent the fall pool running initially and then he added biking later. His pool workouts were 90 minutes long and he did intervals almost every day, to relieve the monotony. Near the end of his recovery, he took a month completely off from exercise. Ritzenhein said that he knew he was going to redshirt at some point, he just didn't expect it to happen so soon. Though he's had fun watching the races this fall -- particularly Jorge Torres winning the NCAA Cross Country title -- he's eager to get back out there himself. The day of the race he said that he had been back running for two weeks. He had run 30 minutes that morning but had gone as long as 50 minutes on another day. Ritzenhein doesn't know if he'll run indoor track this year but he expects to be as fit as he's ever been by the end of the outdoor track season. Other
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